Though she knew Horatio still hadn't healed as much as he should have, Mand relinquished the Shadow Nova's controls to him as they navigated the Ottega System's outer reaches. A number of inert moons and debris fields littered their path into the sector, requiring manual flight the autonav couldn't handle. Despite his ongoing discomfort, Horatio maneuvered the nimble ship well enough. Effortlessly, even.

"...you've been here before, haven't you?"

He maintained his gaze straight out the viewport, electing to ignore her, but she remained curious. "You know the Guild occasionally moves around. This compound seems almost too easy to get t- "

"The Guild has been here for almost three decades."

Finally reaching a momentary clearing, Horatio eased himself back in his seat, moving little else as he flipped autonav back on. "After my sister died...I found out she'd sent her son Aalon to live with another hunter family. She didn't trust that Tzymo would leave me alone after she was gone, so..." he trailed off, unable to complete the thought. Mand knew it was painful territory he was unwilling to retread. "I never saw Aalon again. I knew that his father, Najin Roeken, had once been the Hunter Lead, so I tried to get close to the Guild without actually joining, just hoping to catch some faint idea of where Recero might have sent her son. I never identified myself, but I also never got any information. I had to give up and leave the sector when I thought I'd gotten the attention of a few of Tzymo's agents that were passing through.

"So, yeah," he concluded weakly, still staring ahead, "...I've been here before. But that was a long time ago."

Mand released a slow breath, once more amazed by his candor. So much of Horatio's past was defined by how he'd lost those closest to him, again and again, and she never realized just how much of his history she hadn't heard before. It was truly a testament to how drastically his son Wil had changed him, for the better, opening him up to have the family he had now, the family he was willing to do anything to save...

"Aalon was four when Recero died," he seethed with sudden fury. "Max was two when his father took him away from her, and I haven't seen him since he was seven. I never got the chance to fight for my nephews. I am not losing Jewel, too. I refuse."

Mand nodded calmly. "That's why we're here."

A shrill beep from the comms preceded a gruff voice belonging to a Guild member, Mand guessed. "Unidentified craft: you have entered Bounty Hunters Guild territory. Transmit clearance codes." A pair of small fighters were quick to swing up on either side of them, locking them into their current trajectory towards a substantial, free floating space station in the middle of the sector.

Giving Horatio a significant look, wordlessly reminding him of her earlier demand, Mand clicked on the comm and reverted to her own foreign, heavy tone. "Shadow Nova requesting permission to dock, transmitting credentials. We are former spice miners looking for work; we'll take jobs of any kind."

Their escort remained silent for several tense moments, presumably checking into their identities. Part of her wasn't sure why she had trusted Horatio's insistence that their aliases were still intact after all these years, and she was beginning to regret it. They were gambling against one of the most well-informed networks of criminals and mercenaries in the galaxy, only to maybe catch a bit of intel on another, more dangerous network. Had she allowed his emotional plea to sway her when she should have remained resolute against him?

Finally, the Guild escorts returned to them, sounding markedly less friendly, had they sounded friendly in the first place. "Only Guild members and vetted contractors are allowed admittance here. Unless a current member can vouch for you, you will be forced to leave this sector, immediately."

Mand stared blankly, her heart falling to her feet. She had been so long removed from the criminal underworld, she knew no names she could give that could possibly gain them passage. She could only think of the most high profile crime lords and mercenaries, none of which would know a Kasimir or Killian Vasch, nor would they blindly give their allegiance to two backwater spice miners they'd never before met...

Horatio's voice came from beside her before she could stop him. "Kun Asakura."

Stunned, Mand turned to stare wide eyed at her former partner. He had not only spoken when she had demanded he remain silent, but he had offered the name of an incredibly dangerous, well-connected hunter who had indirectly crossed paths with her years ago, and not in a benign way. She would have given a hundred different names before she would have dared to align herself with the likes of Asakura.

But Horatio ignored her scathing gaze, his own intently fixed on the comm panel that remained lit despite the ongoing silence. Were the hunters already preparing their forces to chase them down, maybe even destroy them as they blindly awaited a response?

"...Shadow Nova, you are cleared for docking. Proceed to Lock Two-Eight-Four."

Her withheld breath left her in a rush of relief, but she somehow managed a calm reply. "Two-Eight-Four," she repeated for confirmation, "thanks." Horatio had already taken over the ship's direction toward the station's main docking bay as she shut off the comm, and she hardly restrained her anger at him.

"Don't do that again!"

"It got us in, didn't it?"

"Do you even know who Kun Asakura is?"

Incensed, Horatio charged her in the same manner. "Do you?"

She tempered her fury with a slow breath. "He worked for my father. He kidnapped my daughter, and Paneau's Princess Ri, for him without hesitation. Cordira was barely more than a month old at the time. If he knew any of the Tarthos personally...he'll recognize me."

But Horatio was unaffected. "Your father's been dead for, what, thirty years now? You and Adalia are the only Tarthos left. Asakura won't care."

"You are being incredibly reckless. This is why I told you to let me do the talking. You are entirely incapable of thinking clearly right now!"

"Look. It was either come up with some kind of connection to the Guild, or we were going to be blown out of the sky." An intense grimace halted him briefly as he navigated, though he had attempted to hide it from her. "Asakura worked for Tzymo once, too. He may not have access to Tzymo's network anymore, but he's our best chance. He'll have a way to get the information we want on Soran."

Mand's gaze slowly tracked down to Horatio's waist, afraid he was doing more to mask his worsening condition to avoid addressing it. He would remain in a state of denial until his own heart stopped beating, she reasoned, if it meant he could get that much closer to finding his daughter. She could appreciate his determination to an extent, but if things were to go poorly within the Guild's compound, there was only so much she could do to get them both out if he couldn't fight for himself.

She softened her voice. "Horatio..."

But his had become razor sharp once more. "Kasimir."

Her jaw tensed, having not said his alias aloud in more than twenty years. "Kaz," she breathed weakly, an intense wave of memories rushing back to her. She had to blink them away, ignoring the conflicting emotions they brought back to the surface. "You're in pain."

"That's not going to change anytime soon."

With another smooth maneuver, Horatio guided the Shadow Nova into their assigned docking bay, quickly settling it on its landing struts with a gentle thud. He powered the ship down with a rapid succession of switches, but when he moved to stand, his breath caught in his chest and froze him in place. It would be several seconds before he seemed to get a handle on his pain as his hand found his side once more, and just as she reached for him, unwilling to watch him suffer any longer, he found his footing and quickly stepped out of the cockpit, leaving her to scramble to catch up.

A pair of armed and helmeted Guild guards met her and Horatio at the end of the Shadow Nova's loading ramp, putting Mand on edge. She had hidden her lightsaber away in a compartment Horatio had assured her couldn't be found by scans, and he had only armed himself with a compact blaster pistol in his jacket pocket. She could already sense that this wasn't going to go as smoothly as she had hoped.

"Surrender all weapons," one of the guards ordered with force, lifting his own blaster in a targeting stance. Mand and Horatio exchanged brief glances before he slowly complied, retracting his pistol from his pocket and holding it out for the guards to take. It left Horatio visibly unsettled, but they were quickly ushered forward by another pair of guards before Horatio could protest. From beside him, she gripped his arm, hard, to remind him to remain silent as they were led through the compound.

Mand took in every bit of intel she could as they walked: she sensed dozens of beings around them, on multiple levels, and as much as she could see, the Bounty Hunters Guild had done well for itself, as well maintained as the station seemed to be. Nothing appeared to be in disrepair, a number of hunters they passed in the halls wore advanced helmets and weaponry, and she even noticed a series of security cams that followed their progress from overhead. It was certainly a secure compound, and she found it increasingly difficult to shake a strange feeling the deeper they were taken into the facility.

They were going to have their hands full if their cover had indeed failed them.

Their escort finally brought them to a door at the end of a long hallway, opening it only after it had been remotely unlocked. Another alarm sounded in the back of her mind only a moment before the guards forcefully shoved them both into the small room and quickly closed the door behind them. Mand was able to regain her balance gracefully, whirling on her heels just in time to hear the door lock before she could return to its control panel. Breathless but desperate to not panic, she rapidly assessed their surroundings: they were locked in a small room with one entry, no windows, and no other items. Only a security cam high in one corner accompanied them, a dim green indicator light blinking as it transmitted. They were being watched, as she already knew, but were they also being listened to? She didn't think they could afford to assume they weren't, so they'd have to keep up their cover.

Turning to Horatio behind her, she was surprised to see that he still hadn't managed to pick himself up off the floor. "Kaz..." She stepped over to him, reaching under his arm to lift him up, but he swung his elbow out of her grip with a rough grunt to deny her aid. She had expected as much, but even as he slowly righted himself and stood with his back against the wall, he kept his hand firmly pressed against his side, leaving her unable to determine if he'd been injured further. His dark glare and shaky breathing were nothing new.

Beyond frustrated with him and with how rapidly their situation had worsened, Mand crossed her arms over her chest, doing her best to relay her anger with him while also playing the part of an upset spicer wife.

"I told you, Kaz. I knew they wouldn't take just anyone into this group."

Horatio struggled to control his breathing. "Maybe this is...part of the interview...process..."

She rolled her eyes, turning her back to him. "We should have just tried to find another mine. Hunters are a completely different class of - "

"Kil..."

Interrupted, she set her jaw. "Don't you try to apologize to me now. This is all your fault."

His strength had suddenly diminished in earnest. "Kil..."

As she turned to face him, she saw his outstretched, bloody hand reaching for her just as he fell forward, collapsing onto his face without even breaking his own fall. She reacted instantly, kneeling beside him as she carefully rolled him onto his back.

"Kaz? Kaz! Kasimir!"

He was so suddenly pale and he breathed so shallowly, she wasn't surprised to feel his weak, thready pulse under her fingertips at his neck. She quickly shifted her focus to his left side once more, bearing much of her upper body weight on her palms that she pressed against his bleeding wound.

"You idiot!" she seethed under her breath, briefly unsure if he remained conscious and wary of anyone who may be listening in. "I told you that you needed that bacta patch! I can't heal you in here!"

His reaction to the pressure she applied was delayed as he grimaced and groaned, but at least it was still registering. She alone couldn't keep him from dying, though. He needed help, but would their captors even bother?

Looking up at the silent security cam behind her, she pleaded with visible emotion. "Please...help! My husband...he was wounded in a mining accident on our last job. Please! We'll pay you with everything we have left, everything on our ship! Just, please, help him! Don't let him die!"

The cam continued to placidly blink, remaining motionless and showing no signs of any response, leaving Mand to return to Horatio in a mild state of panic. He was still breathing, but his face had cleared of any measure of pain, despite her ongoing pressure. Could she risk attempting to heal him, calling her identity into question when his declining health had somehow managed to improve? Deciding that she couldn't let his condition worsen, she closed her eyes and concentrated, reaching deep within herself to call on the Force to mend his wounds...

A subtle click and whoosh of the door opening behind her startled her out of her trance, and looking over, she saw one helmeted man carefully step into the room. He seemed to study her a moment before he briskly waved his hand, signaling the door to close behind himself. He held some kind of tech in his other hand, but it didn't immediately appear to be a weapon. Had he come to offer aid?

"Please," she begged quietly, her trembling no longer much of an act. "You can take our ship, anything we have... Please help him."

The man hesitated a long moment, drawing out the silence before he finally stepped around to Horatio's other side and knelt, handing her a clean bacta patch.

"This should stop the bleeding," his digitized voice sounded plainly out of his helmet. Though briefly stunned by the offer, Mand took the patch and wasted little time in applying it to Horatio's oozing side. She only noticed after the fact what else the man had brought into the room with him; he had already attached the IV cuff to Horatio's other arm before Mand could interfere or question him. It left her to blindly trust that the line of clear fluid that was already being pumped into Horatio's veins wasn't some kind of poison, but that it would help his blood pressure improve after being so dangerously low. She wanted nothing more than to see the man's face, to know just who he was under the helmet, but...she felt only genuine concern from him, and it puzzled her. Could she believe they truly had an ally in a den of thieves and mercenaries?

"I'll return in a few hours," the man continued as he stood from them. "Hopefully that will give him time to recover."

The man swiftly left the room in the same manner as he had come, leaving Mand breathless as she tended to Horatio once more. She could already feel the difference in her former partner's strengthening heart rate, but she was left little less than perplexed by the anonymous aid. Surely it would come at a price later, and she wasn't sure that price would sit well with either of them.